Aaron Donald steps back onto an NFL field tonight, and this time Myles Garrett won't be there with him
The three-time Defensive Player of the Year confirms he'll play Monday Night Football against the Giants in his first NFL game since January 2024, but the defensive partner who lured him out of retirement is already on injured reserve.
In brief
Aaron Donald steps back onto an NFL field tonight, and this time Myles Garrett won't be there with him
The strangest part of Aaron Donald's return to the Los Angeles Rams was always going to be the moment it got real. That moment is tonight.
Donald confirmed Friday after practice in Woodland Hills that he plans to suit up for the Rams on Monday Night Football against the New York Giants at SoFi Stadium. "That's the plan," he said, when asked directly whether he would make his 2026 season debut on the national stage against New York. Coach Sean McVay removed whatever remaining doubt existed Saturday, telling reporters simply, "If he said it, he's going. Whatever Aaron says, I support."
Donald, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year who last played in the NFL in 2023, officially un-retired on Aug. 30 on a one-year, $20 million deal with incentives that could push the total to $30 million. He is 35 years old. He has been away from competitive football for more than two and a half years. And tonight, in the Rams' home opener, he plays his first regular-season snap since a Wild Card loss to the Detroit Lions in January 2024.
The comeback that almost did not happen
The possibility of Donald un-retiring first surfaced when McVay reached out to Donald for his opinion on defensive end Myles Garrett as the team was exploring a trade for Garrett. Donald said in June that the trade "for sure got me thinking" and that he wanted to see if "that fire can light back up."
The Rams confirmed Donald's decision at the end of weeks of talks and almost two months of workouts at the club's facility, where Donald tested whether his body could still handle another season. He signed a one-year contract worth at least $20 million, built heavily on incentives.
On paper, the Garrett-Donald pairing was going to be something genuinely frightening for every offensive line in the league. The two combined held 17 Pro Bowl selections, 13 All-Pro honors, 236.5 sacks and five AP NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors between them. Garrett had won two of the last three Defensive Player of the Year awards, meaning the new teammates would own five of the past nine between them.
That partnership never happened. Not even once.
Donald's debut comes at a difficult moment for the Rams' defense. While it was Garrett's presence that enticed Donald to come back, the Rams placed Garrett on injured reserve last Thursday after he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery. Garrett, the reigning DPOY, played through the injury in Week 1 in Australia, but the procedure ended any hope of the two sharing a defensive front before the calendar turns.
What the Rams need from him right now
Los Angeles came back from Melbourne in rough shape. The Rams absorbed a 27-7 defeat in Week 1 against the San Francisco 49ers. The Rams need Donald in the middle of their defensive line after the 49ers ran and passed with extreme efficiency, though it remains to be seen what type of role he will play early in the season after two years away from football.
Donald retired following the 2023 season after a Hall-of-Fame-caliber career in which he made the Pro Bowl every season, was named a First Team All-Pro eight times in 10 years, and won the Defensive Player of the Year award three times, finishing with 111 sacks, 176 tackles for loss and 260 quarterback hits.
The Rams chose not to have Donald play nor travel to Australia for their Week 1 game against the 49ers, a decision both parties felt was best for him as he continued to re-acclimate. Donald said the only thing remaining after all of his training was to participate in 11-on-11 drills to knock the rust off, and he has participated in 11-on-11 drills this week and prior to the Rams' Week 1 game.
Donald has been practicing for the last three weeks, working to get back into football shape. Minnesota will turn to Carson Wentz rather than rush Murray back from
He told reporters Friday that he had two practices that day, has another Saturday, and then "we'll see." The words "but feeling good" carried more weight than the usual athlete-speak. This is a 35-year-old who spent two and a half years out of the game and then decided, largely on the basis of a phone call about Myles Garrett's availability, to put his body through an NFL season again.
The Giants are preparing for him anyway
Rams head coach Sean McVay had said on Monday that the team had not yet decided whether Donald would play in Week 2, but opposing head coach John Harbaugh had the same expectation heading into last Thursday's game in Australia, and Donald did not travel with the team for the opener.
This time, the Giants are not getting off easy on a technicality. Donald's debut will come at SoFi Stadium against New York. The last time he took the field in a Rams uniform came in 2023 in a Wild Card playoff loss to the Detroit Lions.
The game kicks off at 8:15 p.m. ET on ABC and ESPN. The Rams are at home, 0-1, and desperate for something to build on after the Australia embarrassment. Donald gives McVay's defense a credible interior presence it simply did not have for the Melbourne trip. Whether he looks like himself after two-plus years away, at 35, starting a game on six weeks of training camp practice, that question gets answered on national television tonight.
After signing his deal at the end of August, Donald was asked about what finally made it work. "If the wife wasn't happy it wasn't gonna get done," he said. "My wife was on board and she was with me 100%." Whatever it took to get him here, the Rams are counting on the decision paying off, starting with about 70,000 fans at SoFi and the entire NFC West watching from home.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
